Manifold stack



R. LUzzATTo sept. 14,1937.

MANIFOLD STACK Filed June 26, 1951 'rgfm RUGGERQ LUZZATTO:

Patented Sept. 14, 1937 v UNITED STATES aosaoss y MANIFOLD s'rAcx' Ruggero Lunatto, Genoa,l Italy s Appucaamrune 26,1931, semi No.4 541,015

t .Y In Italy July 3, 1930 n) claims. (c1. z az-zn the pack without leaving'I noticeable trace there- The present invention relates toimprovements in manifold packs provided with writing sheets which have copying means therebetween, Vthe sheets so arranged being assembled togetheralong at least one edge so as'to form a composite whole.

The novel characteristics of the invention-consist in the fact that the external sides of the pack present one or morezones of writingwhich alternate'with one or more non-writing zones, that signs are provided whereby it is possible to distinguish the writing zones `from the non-writing ones, that eachfwriting zone of an external side of the pack corresponds to and is coextensive with a non-writingzone of the other external 1'5 side of the pack, thatreproducing means are provided, between the writing sheets, which have ythe form of the writingzones and are arranged in co-operating position with the respective writing zones of the external sides ofthe pack, that is to say, insuch a manner that the writings or impressions effected upon any one of the writing zones may, betransferred onto the corre- .sponding zone of therunderlying sheet gr sheets. The mentioned meansvfor the reproductionv of g5 the writings or signs may consist of transfer sheets having a peculiar formation,l i. e., having on one side transversezones of copying material which alternate with zones or areas clear of copying ma` terial; and having transversezones of copying material on the other side, the copying material on one side covering spaces that are coextensive with the transverse zones of blank paper on the other side. Y

The copying material, instead Aof being located upon a special transfer sheet, may be disposed also at alternating zones upon the inner sides of the same writing sheets, in a manner similar to that here indicated for the case where a special transfer sheet may be used, that is to say, in such 40 a manner that there may correspond zones of copying material of equal dimensions with the writing zones of the external sides, adapted to reproduce the writings upon the corresponding zones of the underlying sheet or sheets. i

In any case, the zones of copying material are in the same direction of the writing zones provided-upon the external sides of the end sheets of the pack.

The writing spaces and the zones of copying material may be more `or less extended: thus, they may cover one or more writing lines.

The connection of the sheets may, in particular. be effected strongly all around (along all the edges of the pack) in such a manner as to render impossible a direct writing on the innersides of of. In this manner, if the pack is handed on to atperson, an oillce, etc., closed and intact, it pro,- vides the guarantee that the various copies of the writings are absolutely Videntical with each other, which copiescan bevobtained by dissociating the pack in anymanner whatever such as, for instance, by vremovingy the edge that keeps the various sheetsy assembled together, and thus separating the varioussheets constituting the pack, the s aid'sheets present writing upon both sides. This may be particularly useful for supply- .ing the persons 'sendingfcorrespondence by post with an authenticated copy of the correspondence itself without the post oflice having to compare the copies with each other. n

The invention. also includes theI `feature that the form of the sheets may besuch that, once the pack is disassembled in any manner such as, for

instances, by removal of the border holding the.

various sheets together, all the sheets, ors'ome of them, present-the form of postal letter cards, and are provided with means whereby all or some of the sheets thus `obtained may be closed upon themselves, the said'means consisting, in particular, in a preliminary folding and in a, gummed edge provided with perforations. 'I'his gummed edge servesas in the common postal' letter card,

for the closing of each postal letter card on itself, after having been folded along' the above mentioned folding line, while the saidV perforations will help later by tearing away the edge of the closedpostal letter card to open them. Be-

v sides these linesv of perforation of f each postal letter card, there may also be provided on the pack,

' means for effecting the writing upon the two sides of the pack and thereby upon thetwo lsides of each sheet constituting the said pack, make it possible for each postal letter card to bear upon one side the address and upon the other side the correspondence.

In the annexed drawing there are illustrated by way of example two practical embodiments of the present invention. -Flg. 1 shows in open'position the double frame orfolder to contain the several sheets of the manifold pack; Fig. 2 shows the interior of said frame with the two end sheets of the pack secured in place; Fig. 3 shows in perspective, and partly open, a manifold pack consisting of three sheets of writing paper separated by two carbonpaper sheets; Fig. 4 shows in transverse section a complete pack closed; Fig. 5 4shows a face of a particular type of carbon paper intended to be used for the reproduction of the writing performed on one exterior face of the pack as well as on the other exterior face thereof; Fig. 6 shows a manifold pack made according to the invention, wherein the sheets have the form of postal letter cards after the pack has been dissociated by removal of the edges.

Throughout the views, the same references indicate the same or corresponding parts. i

Referring to the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, I designates a double frame or folder. 2 and l represent the two outer sheets of the manifold packwhich are pasted to the inner face of the frame as shown `in Fig. 2; the whole is folded along the line 1-I, and between the outer sheets 2 and l there is located a third sheet of writing paper l interposed between two sheets of carbon paper l and 1. 'All the sheets 2, 2, i, I and 1 are of the same dimensions with thefolder and sheets assembled, the assemblage of such sheets and of the folder, arranged in the manner described, constitutes the pack which is completed by gumming together the mutually facing marginal stripsl l of the frame, which are thus brought together in actual contact; f

'Ihe pack thus contrived" is passed through a `perforating device which makes lines of perforatlons l along which the marginal portion of the pack may be torn away to free the three'copies.

Each copying sheet has on each l:tace zones a of copying material alternatingl with zones b without copying material, each zone provided withv copying material on one face lcorresponding to and being coextensive with a zone without copying material of the other face. Fig. 5 shows a face of the copying sheets! and 1 with the copying zones a and the non-copying zones b. On the exterior faces of the external sheets 2 and 3 are provided (Fig. 3) white zones yII-upon which it is intended to be written and obscure zones Il, upon which itis not intended to be written, each writing zone Il of one exterior face of the pack corresponding and being co-extensive with a nonwriting zone Il of the other exterior face of the Pack To each 4writing zone of the exterior faces correspond as to form and position a copyingzone of the sheet 6 and a copying zone of the sheet l, said zones of copying material being in operative position with regard to lthe corresponding writing zone in such a way that the writings effected upon any one of the writing zones are reproduced on the corresponding or similarly disposed inner faces of the other writing sheets without resulting superposition of writings or mirror writings. In this manner, after the pack has been dissociated, the sheets 2, 3 and 5 will, as'a result, have written matter on the two faces, and the original writings will appear on the two exterior faces of the pack, while the indirect-writings will appear on the inner faces of the sheets 2 and 3 and on both faces of the intermediate sheet 5.

Fig. 6 shows the front face of a manifold pack,

the sheets of which, after the dissociation of the wherein the clerk of the sending postal omce will put theindication of the omce from which the registered letter is sent forward, and I3b the zone in which he will insert his signature and the posting date; in I3 the sender will have written his name and surname, and in I3 his address, while in I2" the sender himself will have put the address of the destinee, that is to say, his name, surname, city and street or square. In contrast therewith, I4 denotes zones -upon which no writing or impression must be made. To the zones Ila, IIb, Il", I2' and I3" of the front side of the pack, side visible in Fig. 6, have accurately corresponding zones located upon the rear face of the pack (the Iface that is not seen .in the figure),

and upon which no writing or impression has to be effected. Upon the rear side of the pack and vupon zones which correspond identically in form and arrangement with the zones I4 of the side that is viewed in Fig. 6, the sender will write the correspondence; all that is effected on the pack before the closing border holdingv the sheets all around has been taken'away. The safety eyeletholes I2, are designed to A`eilect the firm closure of the pack. l' L l Said eyeletsv consist of small metallic tubes found on the market, sometimes referred to as grommets, and serveto fix a group of sheets or the like't'ogether. In the edge indicated at I5 fourv holes of convenient size are made, and four eyelets'or small 'metallic tubes are introduced into said holes and then pressed or rivetted over byY an appropriate'tool such as a pair of pincers or a machine, so that they will hold the sheets together and better secure the union of said sheets along the edge I5. Y

y Obviously, the distribution andbreadth of the writingareas and the respective indications couldr be made different from the ones illustrated.

'I'he carbon paper sheet to be used' in connection with the pack of Fig. 6 isl similar to that illustrated'in Fig. 5, except for the differences depending upon the breadth and form of the writing and non-writing zones. The pack is dissociated by removal of the strips I5,`,and in consequence of this dissociation two or more postal lettercards are obtained which present all around a gummed edge that, for the postal letter card that is Avisible in Fig. 6, is indicated by I6 and included between the linesl 9 and I1, such gumming portion result- -ing upon theface thatis not seen in the figure.

This gummed edge serves, as in the common postal letter cards, for the closure of the latter upon themselves, while the preliminary folding line I8,

Il (Fig, 6) serves merely to facilitate effecting f It is to be understoodthat changes may bev made in ytheformation and inthe combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided such changes come within the scope of thel appended claims. I 1` Having now particularly described and ascertained'thevnature of the present invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:

' 1. In combination, a manifold pack comprising a plurality of opaque recordsheets and a copying sheet, the copying sheet having transverse zones of carbon-copying material on one side with transverse zones of clean paper therebetween and having transverse zones of carbon-copying material on the other side,` the carbon-copying material on one side covering spaces that are coextensive with the-transverse zones of clean paper on the other side.

2. The combination of two opaque writing sheets and a transfer sheet therebetween, said transfer sheet having spaced transverse zones of transfer material upon opposite faces thereof, the zones upon the obverse face being respectively aligned with the spaces between the zones on the reverse face.

3. In combination, a manifold pack including a plurality of writing sheets connected together at least along one edge, copying means interposed between the said sheets, the c0pyin8 `means consisting of a first series constituted by zones of copying material which alternate with zones clear of copying material and are disposed in operative position relatively to one of the sheets between which they are interposed and a second series, comprising zones of copying material which alternate with zones free of copying material and are disposed in operative position relatively to the other of the sheets between which they are interposed, the copying zones of'one series covering spaces that are coextensive with the spaces free from copying material of the other series.

4. In combination, a manifold pack comprising a plurality of opaque sheets and at least one copying sheet, the copying sheet in each case having transverse zones of copying material on one side with transverse zones of clean paper therebetween and having transverse zones of copying material on the other side, the copying material on one side covering spaces that are coextensive with the transverse zonesof clean paper on the other side.

5. In combination, a manifold pack comprising a plurality of opaque writing sheets united at least along one of their edges, and spaced zones of copying material arranged upon the interior sides of the same Writing sheets, the zones of copying material of one side being respectively aligned in coextensive manner with the intermediate spaces clear of copying material of the side making contact therewith.

6. In combination, a manifold pack comprising a plurality of writing sheets assembled together, copying means interposed between said writing sheets, the copying means consisting of a rst series constituted by one or more zones of copying material which alternate with oneor more zones clear of `copying material and are disposed tion relatively to the other of the sheets between which they are interposed. the copying zones of each series covering spaces that are coextensive with the spaces clear of copyingmaterial of the other series, indicia applied upon both the external sides of the pack for the purpose of distinguishing the writing zones, in correspondence with the inner copying means, and means firmly joining the edge portions all around the writing sheets and the reproducing means to prevent any direct writing occurring on the inner sides thereof without leaving noticeable trace thereof.

'7. In combination, a manifold pack comprising a plurality of writing sheets joined together, copying means interposed between the sheets, the copying means consisting of la first series of zones of copying material alternating with zones kclear of copying material and in assembled condition disposed in operative position relatively to one of the sheets between which they are interposed,

and a second series of zones of copying material alternating with zones free from copying material and in assembled conditiondisposed in operative position relatively to the other of thev sheets between which they are interposed, the -copying zones of one series covering spaces that are coextensive with the spaces clear of copying material of the other series, indicia applied upon both the exterior sides of the pack for the purpose of distinguishing thewriting zones in correspondence with the inner copying meanameans firmly `ioining the edge portions all around the writing sheets and the reproducing means to prevent the direct writing on the inner sides thereof without leaving noticeable trace thereof, the writing sheets presenting, in addition tothe exterior edge portions adapted for the assemblage of all the sheets in a pack, also a gummed inner border formed with perforations and a line of preliminary folding for doubling each sheet upon itself to form a post letter card. i

8. `A manifold pack according to claim 3, wherein indicia vare applied-upon both the exterior sides of the pack for the purpose of distinguishing the writing zones, in correspondence with the interior copying means.

9. A, manifold pack according to claim 4,

wherein indicia are applied upon both the exterior sides of the pack for the purpose of distinguishing the writing zones, in correspondence with the inner copying means.

10. A f manifold pack according to claim 5, wherein indicia are applied upon both the exterior sides of the pack for the purpose of distinguishing the writing zones in perfect correspondence with the inner copying means.

RUGGERO LUZZATIlO. 

